---
id: CVE-2026-90146
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  bpf, xdp: move offload check into dev_xdp_install()

  bpf_xdp_link_update() calls dev_xdp_install() directly and skips
  dev_xdp_attach(), so the checks in dev_xdp_attach(…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  bpf, xdp: move offload check into dev_xdp_install()

  bpf_xdp_link_update() calls dev_xdp_install() directly and skips
  dev_xdp_attach(), so the checks in dev_xdp_attach(…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 026a4c28e1db3b0cb99cd9a3e495d4a8b632fa74 <
    ea7b35dcc9430293b861bc7bad0c546f193c85f9
  - >-
    Linux >= 026a4c28e1db3b0cb99cd9a3e495d4a8b632fa74 <
    03022dd874070768a7099f18b1944c633641315f
  - >-
    Linux >= 026a4c28e1db3b0cb99cd9a3e495d4a8b632fa74 <
    ad27ed7d2309419a129078d781504f486b1b469a
  - Linux 5.9
published: '2026-09-17'
updated: '2026-09-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-18T18:17:43.987'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90146'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03022dd874070768a7099f18b1944c633641315f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad27ed7d2309419a129078d781504f486b1b469a'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea7b35dcc9430293b861bc7bad0c546f193c85f9'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00173
epssPercentile: 0.05917
ingestedAt: '2026-09-17T16:21:47.876Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf, xdp: move offload check into dev_xdp_install()

bpf_xdp_link_update() calls dev_xdp_install() directly and skips
dev_xdp_attach(), so the checks in dev_xdp_attach() do not run. A user can
make an XDP link with a normal program and then swap in an offloaded or
device-bound program with BPF_LINK_UPDATE, which puts it on the software
path.

dev_xdp_install() is the one place all three paths go through:
"ip link set xdp" and BPF_LINK_CREATE reach it via dev_xdp_attach(), and
BPF_LINK_UPDATE calls it directly. So move the program checks (offloaded,
bound to another device, device-bound in generic mode, native vs generic,
DEVMAP and CPUMAP) there, and keep only the netlink-flag check
(XDP_FLAGS_UPDATE_IF_NOEXIST) in dev_xdp_attach().

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.